TFC's Pozuelo delivers a Maestro Mea culpa

SANDY, Utah — Toronto FC midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo has stepped up in pretty well every game he has played for the Reds since joining the club this season.

But on Saturday, following Toronto’s 3-0 loss to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Spaniard stepped up in another way — apologizing to his teammates for getting two yellow cards in the match and forcing his side to play down a man for the final half hour — and subsequently not being able to play in next Sunday’s game at home against the San Jose Earthquakes.

“Sad day today. To my teammates, I want to say sorry,” said Pozuelo, who was kept off the score sheet for the second straight match, the first time that has happened this season. “It’s a difficult situation. I know we lose 3-0 and I got the red card and the team need to play with 10. So it’s not good for me and the team.

“But I must learn from these mistakes and grow as a player,” he told the Toronto Sun. “It is time to keep fighting so that we can give to the fans the joy that they deserve.”

Pozuelo joined TFC fresh off a regular-season campaign in Belgium and has played in 10 straight games for Toronto, so was perhaps was due for a rest anyway, but the attacking whiz doesn’t see it that way.

“I felt good before the game,” he said. “My legs for the moment are OK, so I’m OK.”

TFC coach Greg Vanney said the rest of the team will have to rise to the occasion next Sunday without Pozuelo.

“It will be interesting because we get Jozy (Altidore) back, but we lose Pozuelo,” he said. “We’ll see what that looks like. We won games at the beginning of the year before (Pozuelo) got here, so we got to put in an effort, we got to stay connected as a group, we can’t make errors that turn into goals and we got to finish the opportunities that we create. The formula to winning is no different than it is every other day. We just have to do it without him on the day.”

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